


Abdominal Pain and Red Suits

by alternatereality42



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bucky Barnes Is a Good Bro, Bucky Barnes Thinks Like a Computer, Bucky is sort of an older brother to Peter, Coming Out, Implied/Referenced Cuddling, Infinity War happened but everyone came back except for Vision, Internalized Homophobia, Internalized Transphobia, Natasha Romanov Knows All, Protective Tony Stark, Steve and Bucky had a trans friend named Trevor before being trans was a thing, Team as Family, There's A Tag For That, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Trans Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-14 16:58:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14773553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alternatereality42/pseuds/alternatereality42
Summary: or, how Peter Parker came out to the Avengers, but, more importantly, Tony Stark





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick FYI/potential trigger warning here, Peter refers to himself as "defective" for being trans. There is a brief, one-off mention of someone's deadname, but only as a way to make someone realize what being trans is. (Read the tags for clarification.)

Tony Stark would have brushed off Peter's muffled "Fuck", aside from a post-battle conversation on inappropriate language (God, he was turning into such a Dad™), if it hadn't been for the blinking light, installed as part of the Baby Monitor protocol. He looked over at the kid. He was breathing shallowly, clutching his abdomen, and trying not to move very quickly. _Bleeding detected_. 

"Let me see, kid." Tony motioned for Peter to move his arms. 

"What? No." Peter's voice was slightly dazed and slightly hoarse. 

"Karen, scan for injuries." 

"Located one minor stab wound, mid-abdominal area, gently bleeding, stitches possibly pulled. Located several facial contusions, number unclear." 

Tony had assumed that there were "facial contusions". He was more concerned about the minor stab wound. That had pulled stitches? "Peter, when were you stabbed?" 

"...Yesterday? I was walking home from school and I saw a mugging, and I didn't have time to put on my suit, and the mugging victim was totally fine and got all her stuff back, and isn't that what really matters?" Peter pleaded. 

Tony wanted to say yes, because he knew that voice. It said, I'm genuinely sorry and I know I screwed up, but please don't punish me. ~~He'd used it on his own father.~~

"When did you get stabbed?" he asked instead.

"Well, the mugger was holding a knife to the victim's throat, which is why I didn't have time to put on the suit, so I yelled 'Stop!' at him, and I won our fist fight, but in the process, I may or may not have gotten... lightly stabbed."

"Lightly... never mind. So then, instead of telling me, or Dr. Banner, or Rhodey, or Sam, or even Bucky or Steve, all of whom have at least the barest of medical training, you decided to deal with it yourself?"

"I didn't want to get in trouble." The poor kid sounded on the verge of tears. Tony didn't like it. 

"Don't start crying on me, kid."

Predictably, he does. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark," he blubbered.  ~~Mr. Stark, I'm sorry.~~ "Please, don't send me home."  ~~I don't want to go.~~

"Fine. You can stay. Too much of a hassle to send you home now, anyway," Tony muttered. "But as soon as we get home, you're grounded." Tony had too much on his plate to deal with his  ~~PTSD~~   ~~flashbacks~~ memories. He walked away to rejoin the fight.

\---

Later, Bucky joined Peter on his bed. "Why didn't you tell Tony you were stabbed?"

"Why do you care?" Peter asked.

He tried again, and was met with a similar answer. 

After the third time asking, Peter burst out, "Because I'm trans, okay?"

"No," Bucky said.

"Oh," Peter said. He started staring at the ceiling. Bucky registered his uneven breaths and shaking shoulders and realized that Peter was crying. 

"If being trans is impeding your ability to go to the doctor, then it is bad. Please stop crying."

No response. 

"Peter." He flinched. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Peter's voice was raw. "You're not the reason I'm defective."

What. Input: Peter said he was trans. Peter said he was defective. Output: Peter thinks being trans is defective. Input: Peter thinks being trans is defective. Peter started crying after being told being trans wasn't okay. Output: Peter is sensitive about being trans. Input:  Peter is sensitive about being trans. Peter asked if being trans was okay, and Bucky said no. Output: Bucky made Peter cry. Input:  Bucky made Peter cry. Output: Bucky fucked up. Further information needed: confirmation, clarification.

Confirmation needed. "Why do you think you are defective?" Bucky asked. 

"Because I'm trans," Peter replied. 

Confirmed. 

Clarification needed. 

"What is trans?" Bucky asked. 

Peter let out a choked little noise, a combination between a laugh, a sob, and a wheeze. "Of course you don't know what being trans is, you're ancient-"

"-Objection, I'm only 101-"

"-and on top of that, you were brainwashed and suffered serious memory loss." He paused. "Sorry." 

"It's fine, it happened, it's over now, let's move on." A beat, then-

"Right. So, being trans is when you don't identify as the gender you were assigned at birth. For example, I was assigned female at birth, but I'm not female. I'm male. The long version of my identity is female-to-male transgender, abbreviated to FtM trans, and even shorter just to trans." 

"And why does this interfere with you going to the doctor?" 

"Because I'm not out to anyone here, except for you, now, and I have this thing that makes my chest more flat that I wear, so the first reason is that they'd be able to see that, and the second reason is that they might ask me to take it off if they thought it was, like, an undershirt."

Clarified.

Peter winced suddenly. "Ooh. Ow. I hate everything."

"Why are you in pain?" Bucky asked. His voice came out a little tenser than he'd intended.

"S-sorry to worry you, Sergeant-"  

"Don't apologize, just explain. And just call me Bucky," he added as an afterthought.

"Right. Okay. Well, cramps. It's, uh, it's shark week, for me, which comes with the nifty add-on bonus of extreme pain in the abdominal area. So, yeah, super fun," Peter said. The layer of sarcasm on the last sentence was so thick that Bucky could have cut it with any of the four knives he had concealed on his person.

"Do you want to tell the others?" Bucky asked gently.

"Uh, yeah, I do. Tomorrow."

Bucky nodded and left Peter's room. On the way out, he bumped into Steve. 

"Hey, Buck, how's the kid?"

"He's fine, Steve. You can stop worrying now."

"What's going on with him?"

"He'll tell you tomorrow morning. Let's go to bed." Bucky pressed a kiss to Steve's cheek. "I've barely seen you all day, what with the HYDRA attack and everything. I missed you."

"All right." Steve swept Bucky into a bridal position and carried him into their room. Steve's cuddles were the best cuddles. Objectively.

\---

The next day, after breakfast, Peter took a deep breath.  _All right, everyone's here. Some people are washing dishes, but that way I don't have to see their disappointed faces._ _It's now or never._ He took a deep breath. "Hey, guys? I have something important to tell you. It might affect the way you see me, and, uh, I'm sorry."

All eyes were instantly on him.

"I'm, uh, I'm trans."

Dead silence.

Steve sheepishly raised his hand. "What's trans?"

Bucky turned to him. "Remember Marsha?"

"Trevor," he corrected, and then, "Oh. Cool." He gave Peter a thumbs up. 

"Congratulations, young spider. My brother Loki is a girl sometimes." Thor's booming voice echoed, and Peter felt a little lighter.

"I already knew, but thanks for telling us," Natasha said. At Clint's surprised look, she said, "Well, what kind of a spy would I be if I didn't immediately notice everything about everybody? You pass really well, though, kid, don't sweat it." 

"Well, I did not know, but I'm still supportive," Clint said. "Anything you need that you want me to steal-" -Tony glared- "-Or pay for," he added slowly, "just ask."

A hand clapped Peter on the shoulder. He flinched having forgotten that the kitchen where people were washing dishes was behind him, and turned around. It was Sam. "If you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm here," he said.

"Seconded," Rhodey said from the couch. "I may not be a therapist, but I know how annoying and horrible it is when your body does things behind your control." Tony winced and Rhodey poked him. "You've been a huge help though, thank you."

"I'm going to need to ask you about fourteen thousand questions pertaining to how your powers affect your transitioning and vice versa,"  ~~Bruce~~ Dr. Banner said, already pulling out his clipboard. 

"One of my nieces is in the GSA at her school," Scott volunteered. "She tells me stuff." 

"I'm assuming, since Natasha figured it out already, that you have already... transitioned... socially?" Wanda asked.

"Yeah, I'm a guy. And nice use of terminology." Peter smiled encouragingly. But everyone else's opinions were unimportant next to his idol's, who remained silent. When Rhodey elbowed him, he blinked. "What? Oh. I was waiting for the super-important, this-will-change-how-you-see-me news." Peter let out a small, choked noise, and Tony opened his arms. "Get in here, kid."


	2. Peter's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a month!

Peter Parker's Spidey sense had been tingling all day. He'd thought it was that his period was going to come, so he'd been  ~~pleasantly~~ surprised when HYDRA had started their attack. But now, as his period dropped and a blinking light showed up that meant Karen had detected rapid bleeding (recently added; he'd hoped it wouldn't be an issue), he was glad he'd put in a pad. 

And then the cramps hit. He swore. Breathing shallowly, he curled his arms around his abdomen and leaned in slightly, hoping they'd dissipate soon. Iron Man looked over at him.   _Right, what's the point of detecting bleeding if he doesn't know too._

"Let me see, kid." Iron Man motioned for Peter to move his arms.

"What? No." Internally, he winced at how dazed his voice sounded. 

"Karen, scan for injuries."  _Please don't see my period please don't see my period please don't see my period_

"Located one minor stab wound, mid-abdominal area, gently bleeding, stitches possibly pulled. Located several facial contusions, number unclear."  _Thank goodness._ Wait- fuck. He hadn't realized he'd pulled his stitches. At least he had a ~~n alibi~~ reason to be bleeding. 

"Peter, when were you stabbed?" Crap. Peter probably should have told Tony, even if he didn't end up going to see one of the doctors he employed.

"...Yesterday? I was walking home from school and I saw a mugging, and I didn't have time to put on my suit, and the mugging victim was totally fine and got all her stuff back, and isn't that what really matters?" Peter pleaded.  _I'm trying to be better. I even did it without the suit. Please be proud. Please just drop it._

"When did you get stabbed?" No such luck. 

"Well, the mugger was holding a knife to the victim's throat, which is why I didn't have time to put on the suit, so I yelled 'Stop!' at him, and I won our fist fight, but in the process, I may or may not have gotten... lightly stabbed."

"Lightly... never mind. So then, instead of telling me, or Dr. Banner, or Rhodey, or Sam, or even Bucky or Steve, all of whom have at least the barest of medical training, you decided to deal with it yourself?"

"I didn't want to get in trouble." Peter was about to cry, but if Tony didn't mention it, he might be able to prevent it.

"Don't start crying on me, kid."  _Dammit._

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark." His voice was thick with tears. "Please don't send me home."

"Fine. You can stay. Too much of a hassle to send you home now, anyway," Tony muttered. "But as soon as we get home, you're grounded." He walked away to rejoin the fight, leaving Peter alone.

\---

After the fight, Peter went to his room and sat on his bed. Bucky joined him.

"Why didn't you tell Tony you were stabbed?"

"Why do you care?" Peter asked. It didn't matter why, it only mattered that he did, and  _everyone knew and everyone was going to hate him and_ \- Stop.

Bucky asked again, with a similar response. It wasn't that Peter was trying to be annoying, it was just that he didn't want to answer the question. Bucky couldn't know-

"Because I'm trans, okay?"  _That was exactly what wasn't supposed to come out of your mouth._

"No," Bucky said. 

"Oh," Peter said. He started staring at the ceiling. _Sergeant James Barnes thinks being trans isn't okay. Now I'm crying, as if I didn't embarrass myself enough already, and now he knows I'm trans, and-_

Bucky said something as if from far away. Peter heard his name, and flinched.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" He hated how raw his voice sounded. "You're not the reason I'm defective."

Bucky stared at him for a few seconds. "Why do you think you are defective?"

"Because I'm trans."

"What is trans?" Bucky asked.

Peter made a noise of relief. "Of course you don't know what being trans is, you're ancient-"

"-Objection, I'm only 101-"

"-and on top of that, you were brainwashed and suffered serious memory loss." He paused. "Sorry." 

"It's fine, it happened, it's over now, let's move on." A beat, then-

"Right. So, being trans is when you don't identify as the gender you were assigned at birth. For example, I was assigned female at birth, but I'm not female. I'm male. The long version of my identity is female-to-male transgender, abbreviated to FtM trans, and even shorter just to trans." Peter knew he was rambling, but Bucky didn't seem to mind.

"And why does this interfere with you going to the doctor?" 

"Because I'm not out to anyone here, except for you, now, and I have this thing that makes my chest more flat that I wear, so the first reason is that they'd be able to see that, and the second reason is that they might ask me to take it off if they thought it was, like, an undershirt." Peter suddenly felt like somebody had punched him in the gut. He winced. "Ooh. Ow. I hate everything."

"Why are you in pain?" Bucky sounded concerned.

"S-sorry to worry you, Sergeant-"  

"Don't apologize, just explain. And just call me Bucky," he added as an afterthought.

_How do I say I'm on my period without saying I'm on my period?  Better to avoid it._

"Right. Okay. Well, cramps. It's, uh, it's shark week, for me, which comes with the nifty add-on bonus of extreme pain in the abdominal area. So, yeah, super fun," Peter said.

"Do you want to tell the others?" Bucky asked gently.

"Uh, yeah, I do. Tomorrow."  _If Bucky's chill with it, then Steve probably will be too, and if everyone else isn't supportive, they're good people to have in my corner._

Bucky nodded and left the room, leaving Peter to his thoughts.

**Author's Note:**

> If you guys ask nicely in the comments, I'll post a deleted scene. It's kind of a prologue from Peter's POV, but ultimately, I didn't use it because I didn't want to use Peter's POV until the end, because even though the story is about him, he doesn't take full control until he comes out. If you guys ask really nicely, I'll post the entire story from Peter's POV. If either one of those is requested, it will be up within the next few days as a part two, so if you want one (or both), then scroll up to the top and subscribe so you won't miss it. (Or just check these tags for the next week or so.)


End file.
